Friday 17 April 2015 23:10, UK
St Helens captain Jon Wilkin lauded Leeds’ outside backs Zak Hardaker and Kallum Watkins as the ‘future of English rugby’ after seeing the Rhinos dominate his side at Langtree Park on Friday.
In a clash between the Super League’s top two it was Leeds who came out well on top after a supreme first half performance left Saints with too much to do after the break, winning 41-16.
Wilkin was magnanimous in defeat, conceding that Leeds were the better side on the night, pointing to their clinical finishing as a key factor in the result that saw St Helens drop to six points behind tonight’s opponents.
“I thought our attention to detail was poor. Leeds executed very well in the first half, I think they pretty much took every chance they were given,” he said.
“Congratulations to them, I thought they were exceptional. You look at their young exciting outside backs, Hardaker and Watkins, and that’s the future of English rugby, isn’t it?
“We’ve got to try as hard as we can to keep those guys in the game.”
Wilkin also bemoaned the latest in a series of slow starts from the reigning champions as they went 24 points down before registering on the scoreboard themselves.
“I think we’ve been scratchy at the start of games all year, I don’t think we’ve started a game particularly well yet this season,” he added. “Whether it’s tries or mistakes, we’ve conceded a lot of tries at the start of games and it comes back to bite you.
“We’ve been lucky against other side that we’ve been good enough to come back and win the games but against a side like Leeds – who are as clinical as any side in Super League – you can’t do that.
“We need to do better but we’re a champion side and we’ll bounce back. It’s a long year and we’ll be hurting over the next week or so.”
19-year-old Ash Handley scored a first-half hat-trick for Leeds and the winger was thrilled to make an impact in such an important match.
“It’s a good feeling,” he said. “I think we dug deep and finished some good tries off. For the first half of the first half we were playing really well.
"In the first half we played a good game but in the second it was a bit sloppy. We’ll work on that in training next week and then push on to Warrington.”
